Grape Leaves
by Syntax-N
Summary: Lovino was born with a natural talent for botanical magic — which isn't as impressive as his brother's rare musical gift. When it seems his power will never be seen as special, Lovino makes it his mission to show the world his full potential before he is forgotten forever. Fataverse!
1. Uno

The vineyard was greener than it had been in years.

A middle-aged man with a mess of graying curls sighed as the sun rose up over the Allegrian countryside, shading the plants into a mosaic of greens. The grapes hung on the vines like bunches of waxy jewels, their skins dripping with dew. The leaves were broad and healthy, and the little curls of vines wrapping close to them bounced in the cool morning breeze. Beneath his sandaled feet, the earth was rich and moist. Nature had created something truly wonderful this season.

"Roma! There you are."

At the sound of footsteps, Roma turned. His four long wings, curled at the tips, perked curiously behind him. They caught the light of the sun and glittered scarlet with little flecks of gold.

"We didn't make it before the sunrise, but he was fussy this morning," came a woman's voice. Its bearer strode up to the man while struggling to keep a squirming toddler from escaping her arms. His chubby little face was red and sticky from the paths of tears, but when he saw the glory of the sun in the distance, he stopped pulling his mother's hair and looked on toward the horizon with awe.

Roma laughed. It was a musical laugh, perfectly in tune and light like a dance. Fairy dust spilled from his wings and littered the ground beneath him. The tiny boy reached out his arms, begging to be held by his grandfather. The old fairy obliged and scooped him up.

"And why are you fussy, Lovino? Not a morning person? Don't worry, you don't have to be one in this family. Is your papà still sleeping?"

"I don't think he'd want to miss it when he promised me he'd be here," the woman said sharply. Her lips twitched in annoyance.

"Eh, that's just my Gigi. He'll be down soon, and if he isn't, I give you my permission to yell at him," the man mused.

Just as was predicted, a whining countertenor swelled as a much younger and leaner fairy trudged down the rut between the two rows of vines toward them. Gianfranco Roma rubbed his eyes, bronze wings drooping behind. His auburn hair was even messier than his father's, and his wrinkled sleeping shirt was slipping down on his chest.

 _"_ Gigi!" Roma chirped.

"I don't see why we can't all watch the sun _set_ together. Why get up so early? You both know I'm going right back to bed after this! Look at little Lovi. Look at those tired eyes! You know he's going to be just like me when he grows up. He already knows it's important to get enough sleep."

"Papà!" Lovino whined as he reached out yet again. Then he was in the arms of his father, who tousled his hair and gently stroked his little wings.

"Maybe, but he looks like his mother," the woman said. "The dark hair and dark wings. His judging green eyes."

"His wings are green, Tina," Gigi scoffed with a wild gesture.

 _"Dark_ green, almost brown. They always remind me of boiled grape leaves. And what kind of argument is that? He looks like his mother, and he's going to grow up like his mother if you keep going off on your excursions with the _humans."_

"They pay so much more, as if magic is more precious than gold. It makes a difference when they don't see it everyday. Poor creatures. Why shouldn't I share my gift? At least I'm not arrogant about it like _someone."_ Gigi grinned and poked his father in the ribs.

"Magic _is_ more valuable than gold, and that's why fairies can be arrogant about their talents," Roma said with a smile.

"Of course, and that's why I'm so excited to see what little Lovino will become," Gigi replied. He smiled at his little one before setting him down to run around. The boy twirled the little green curls of vines around his fingers and hopped under the thick tangles of leaves, trying to reach the grapes growing in bunches above him.

"Well, he's my grandson, eh? I'll love him no matter who he becomes," Roma chuckled.

Gigi crossed his arms, looking out upon the sunrise almost sadly. "It does feel good to hear you say that again. I'm sure you've heard the backstabbing as well. You'd think your jealous siblings would find some satisfaction, as disturbing as the thought may be, but they were all really mean the last time we had them over for supper. I guess they all expected that he'd be born with the Gift, and when he wasn't… I won't let people insult him. Lovino will be a powerful fairy even if he doesn't have the Gift. He'll study at Straffino and make us all proud."

"Papà! Mamma! Help!"

The little cry came from a few rows over. Gigi came out of his rambling and pushed through the trees of vines to see Lovino kneeling down and facing away from him. Little green wings flicked up and fluttered in anxiety.

"Lovino! Are you hurt?" Gigi cried as he rushed to the child. Then, his bronze-colored eyes widened and brightened, and his mouth fell open at the sight.

Both of Lovino's hands were placed on the soil in front of him and glowing a faint olive green. His fingers twitched at the little crackles of static pulsing between them. Above his head, the grape vines were twisting and curling and growing from their sturdy trunks _,_ the leaves broadening and the grapes swelling to nearly bursting.

The other two were gaping at the sight soon enough. Lovino's mother beamed and clapped her hands together in pure excitement.

Gigi laughed in the same musical way his father did. "His first spell! Maybe that fussiness was just because of a little magic bubbling up inside him! Oh, don't be scared, Lovi! This is a very good thing! It feels strange but wonderful, doesn't it?" He spread his arms wide and let a very distraught son cuddle up to his chest in fear of the power he had wrought. The grape vines continued tangling, and the grapes all the way down the row continued to ripen.

Roma kept whipping his head around to look up and down the row like he simply couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"He may not possess the Gift, but it looks like Lovino is a natural garden fairy! This kind of power will only grow stronger!"

"A gift of your own? And already so impressive? I almost want to give this to you _now,"_ Gigi mused, pointing to his hair clip. "Don't worry, I'll give it to you when you're strong and powerful, so you can wear it and show everyone you're the perfect heir to the House of Roma, no matter what! Now, how are we going to celebrate? I guess I can't go back to bed now. Do you want pasta, Lovino? I'll spend all day making pasta! And I'm buying you your own pair of scissors. With grape leaves engraved into them so you always remember you're our special little garden fairy."

He hugged Lovino tightly while the tiny boy sniffled, confused by all this sudden adulation.

"We're celebrating two," Tina said as she knelt down to wipe some new tears off the boy's face.

"Two? Who's the other?" Gigi asked.

"There's a reason why I decided to have us all meet here so early in the morning." She raised her eyebrows and smiled, but her husband couldn't catch what she meant to convey.

"What?"

"Our special little garden fairy is going to be a big brother."

Needless to say, after this reveal, the vineyard was full of joyful cries and endless smiles and tight hugs and the wildest of gesticulations. Roma and Gigi burst into song, their magical voices swelling with power, and their spell of happiness spread through the vineyard and all throughout the environs of Roma Villa. Happiness that was bound to last forever and ever.

Except it didn't.

* * *

"Will you _stop_ already? It's annoying!"

"Stop what, Lovi?"

"Stop _talking!_ It sounds weird!"

"I can't help it! My voice just started cracking one day just this past summer, and now it's all deep! Well, not really _deep_ deep, but deeper than it was before. Like, I don't sound like a girl anymore! No more 'pretty soprano' as Grandpa Roma used to say! Did Papà have a voice like this?"

Lovino huffed as he stared out onto the misty September vineyard through the door of his balcony. He strained to place his consciousness so far back in time. How old had he been when it happened? And what was life like before then? The only memory that came to mind was not a set of moving images, but rather a blurred and neglected collection of sights and sensations. An orange sunrise, a gasp of amazement, a strange yet wonderful pulsing in his chest… it could have only been his imagination.

But his father's magical voice could never be imagined with the power he remembered it having.

"It wasn't stupid like yours," he growled. "About the same pitch, maybe lower."

"And was it really pretty? Could he sing arias to bring storms like Grandpa Roma could? I bet he could work some wonderful magic! Not like mine. All my spells are just made up. I don't even understand how they work. And Herr Edelstein never lets me work magic. He _hates_ magic! But it's so _hard_ to make music without anything happening. Every time I try to repress my power, it just grows stronger, and soon the pianoforte is floating again!"

"Felice, you're rambling again."

"Tell me what Papà's voice was like, please? Was it as wonderful as Grandpa's?"

"Sure it was. It was beautiful," Lovino said. He stood up from his chair and stretched, his wings flicking up and fluttering a bit.

Feliciano came to stand by his side, smiling like he hadn't a care in the world. Lovino let his eyes settle on his brother. Who did he think he fooled? Except for the amber eyes and the tannish-gold wings, he was the younger image of Gigi Roma. The resemblance was only exacerbated by his wearing of a golden hair clip in the shape of a laurel branch.

Feliciano had inherited the _Gift —_ a natural musical ability steeped with magic power _._ His very birth crying had not been throaty and distressed, but rather melodious and pure, and anyone who happened to hear it was overwhelmed with joy. It wasn't until he was a few years old that he was able to open his mouth without causing some minor miracle. But by then, he was playing musical instruments, and his magic found even more ways to cause trouble. No amount of studying mundane music under a tutor could tame the Gift's ability to sway emotions and toy with nature.

Needless to say, the rarity and power of Feliciano's talent christened _him_ heir to the House of Roma not long after Gigi so passionately supported his firstborn, and Lovino had a _very_ clear memory of Grandpa Roma plucking the clip out of his coffee-colored hair and fastening it in his gurgling brother's amaretto.

Now here they stood, seventeen and fourteen, in a villa that seemed strangely quiet in the morning with their mother still in bed and the two previous generations existing only in memory.

Feliciano broke the silence. "Are you ready for another year?"

"What do you think? You think I want to be stuck inside sniffing paper when there are flower boxes in the courtyard that need weeding? My fate is to be a garden fairy. Why not actually practice with real plants?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe you have to learn _how_ to use your powers so you can use them more effectively! I'm sure I'm far from my full potential, and that's why I'm going to school in just a few years, too! It's just what Grandpa wanted for me."

 _For you…_ Lovino thought.

He couldn't have possibly known of the disaster that the little thought would bring.

"I wonder if they'll use the same methods with me that they used when Papà and Grandpa Roma went to school. I bet they don't have classes in music casting since the talent is so rare, but great-uncle Luigino said the professors know a lot about how music and magic are so similar. You've learned about it, right? I at least hope they can teach me to control my power. I don't want to make everyone cry every time I sing a sad song! Oh, I just can't wait to study magic! I have to go back to Herr Edelstein in a few weeks and just learn boring music theory before he tricks me into scrubbing his ballroom. But if you tasted his sweets, you'd forgive him for anything."

Lovino just huffed. "Lace my jacket for me."

"Sure, sure. You know, you're supposed to tell me I'm wasting my time."

"Am I?"

"That's what I'd expect from you, and then I'd tell you I only do it because Herr Edelstein is actually a very miserable man, and if having a music student brings him joy, then I'll be the joy in his life."

"Sing him an aria for all I care. Make him so happy, he covets you and locks you up like humans did in ancient times. Now _that's_ something you learn about in school. They thought our dust could make things fly — Eh! Too tight! Not through the top holes! What did I tell you last time!?"

"But this kind of jacket is supposed to fit tight—"

"If it's that tight, I can't maneuver quickly enough, and I won't be able to balance, and I'll fall out of the sky and land in the depths of hell where plants frost over and die. Real responsible, Felice. Real responsible."

"Maybe it would be a good place to be, considering the sticky weather we've been having," Feliciano mused. "But I've seen you fly just fine with the jacket laced tightly like it should be." He grasped the laces of the other slit in both hands and weaved them through the grommets from the bottom edge of the jacket right up to under Lovino's left wings before tying them taut. Lovino scowled as he fluttered in and out. The fabric chafed around where his wings met the skin between his shoulder blades.

"If it's this tight every day, the fabric's going to bunch up after a while, and then I'm going to have one hell of a time trying to scrub all the extra fairy dust off every night."

"That's why you can't forget to wash your wings with soap every day. Yours are more oily because you work in the sun—"

"Do you not see me washing them every day?"

Feliciano caught his warning edge and, with a humble smile, put space between them.

"You look very handsome with that red pin."

The tiniest bubble of pride surfaced in his annoyance. Lovino straightened the little butterfly-shaped pin on his lapel. It was the mark of a second-year — proof that Lovino had already gone through one whole year at that school, doing nothing but twiddling his thumbs in lecture halls while there was an entire green world outside that needed his care. There was a _world_ of plants just like there was a world of people! And yet, in this modern Allegria, fairy magic wasn't feelings or intuition, but diagrams and frequencies and things that could be written down on paper and studied, studied, _studied._

He may as well get the studying done so that snooty board of whoever made the rules could smile down on him and somehow make him more powerful.

Lovino sighed.

At least another year away would save him from dealing with Feliciano.

* * *

Straffino was nestled in a valley in between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the mountains. The grand, snow-capped wall that separated Allegria from the human lands of Amotoile and Volkerburg dominated the northern horizon, while the salt-laced scent of sea air eased up from the southwest. Placid lakes filled the area, while the city of Tor complemented the natural greens and blues and purples with its man-made reds and silvers.

The school was separate from the city in its own little part of the valley. Its main complex on campus was a castle — of a century past and stately with its many peeping windows and towers at each corner. But one was never far from magic in Allegria, and the castle was accompanied by a number of free-standing towers that slowly inched of their own accord around the area and a host of floating buildings that could only be reached if one had the power of flight.

By the time Lovino reached the courtyard of the castle after a long three days' travel, it was about two in the afternoon, and he was late to orientation. He weaved through masses of bodies to find his place among the other red-pinned second-years. Eugh, had _he_ worn that stupid, slack-jawed expression as a first-year?

A new face in the system was obviously a thing of attention, and Lovino found himself eyed by faces arrogant and humble, learned and callow. His wings twitched, and a heat came to his cheeks. His saving grace was that the spying eyes soon returned respectfully to Headmistress Barbalosa and her predictable welcome speech. Lovino tuned her out immediately. If this was going to be anything like last year, he wasn't going to be on her good side, so he may as well start his personal rebellion early.

The assembly finished with the announcement that schedules would be sent to dorms later and that breakfast would be served at seven the next morning. The students broke out of their rigid formation and scattered in abstract clouds of friends and acquaintances, leaving one green-winged fairy to himself. Lovino took the time to fish out his dorm assignment. He dreaded recognizing it for fear of having to live another year with that stupid Flavio.

And yet he did. Catolavie Hall, Floor Two, Room Four.

It was one of the floating buildings. At present, it was hovering about fifty feet above the middle of the roiling campus lake. Dark, soupy clouds had rolled in, and a chill sea wind whipped through the trees. Wings of every color and sheen fluttered anxiously in the ominous breeze. Then Lovino felt tapping on his shoulder.

He whipped around and cursed, expecting it to be that horrid roommate, but his own internal storm grew even darker when he realized he'd cursed to Barbalosa herself. She tucked graying curls behind her ears and snapped her great blue wings together in surprise.

But she knew Lovino. Or she _thought_ she knew him. And in her mind, this was only to be expected as his usual mode of language.

"I noticed you arrived late, Signor Vargas _Roma."_ Her voice was stern-ish. The emphasis was heavy and held with it a certain tone of scolding as if he didn't deserve such a powerful name.

"A storm was coming. I flew cautiously over the final stretch to the castle… against the wind."

The old fairy's lips tightened. Lovino had scarcely the time to mentally call her a hag before she placed her long fingernails on his shoulder and looked at him with a strained kindness.

"If you need anything these first few days, please do come speak to me. I know this different environment can be difficult for you, and all we want is to help you become stronger—"

"I'm not a child," Lovino snapped. Why was he getting so flustered all of a sudden? Was she talking down to him? He could adapt perfectly to this different environment. He _thrived_ in any place where Feliciano couldn't cloud his chance at success… well, perhaps not _any_ place, but school was supposed to be a haven for growth and fulfilling one's potential. Becoming stronger. Why, then, was he feeling so uneasy?

Perhaps it was because last year had held too many conferences between Lovino and the faculty about his behavior, his attitude, and his mouth — conferences that he thought were wildly unfair. And now, as expected, Barbalosa was already on his case for this year. He wondered how many days would pass until he found himself in her office waiting to be told off for something or another before being sent away without even candy for compensation. How many days until he was found taking respite in the library and yelled at simply because he'd fallen asleep in a book and missed class? At least he'd fallen asleep reading that time!

"Don't see me as an enemy, Lovino. If you need to talk about anything at all, my door is always open."

Lovino snapped back to reality. Like she would even care. His heart still burned whenever he thought of the time in the library. He'd been up so late the night before! _Studying!_ And not studying botany, but general _algebra_ — a stupid subject that every teacher lied about young men needing.

When the headmistress left, Lovino picked up his suitcases, his mind now a turbulent storm of bad memories and uneasy feelings. He folded his wings up, bent his knees, then kicked off and ascended, the wind carrying him far above the ground. His heart lurched when a rogue squall picked up and threw him off balance for a bit. He worked quickly to right himself, a squeak escaping his throat. While he'd improved over the years, he'd never been the strongest flier. Skilled wings were yet another thing gifted to Feliciano.

No, no, he wasn't supposed to think about Feliciano. Not his inheritance nor his games of ignorance. Lovino was at Straffino, the best fairy school in Allegria, if not all the world. _He_ had been accepted, and he'd passed his classes his first year. Sure, there were rough memories, but he'd survived! That was why he now wore a red pin! The year was what he made of it. Now, if everyone would just allow him peace of mind and _stay out of his way,_ he could fly through this second year with little trouble.

He stepped onto the stone foundation outside the floating building and quickly threw himself inside the door. The inside of Catolavie Hall was eerily quiet. Dim yellow orbs hovered over vintage torch-holders on the walls. Peeling pink wallpaper and tarnished chandeliers left a wistful feel in the stagnant old halls. But the marble floor had been freshly polished, and muddy footprints had yet to stain it.

Then a faint pittering of rain came down to bead on the dusty windows. Lovino let out a sigh. Amid the chaos, there was a space to escape to. A place where there was coziness in the storm.

With a timid smile, he reached out to touch a potted petunia on the front desk succumbing to the stifling lament of the place. There came a faint pulse of magic in his chest, and as he stroked the little flower, he could feel its own pulse of life — weak and fading.

As he'd done so many times before, he weaved his inner magic into the shape of a spell for growth and healing. A few green sparks dropped from his fingertips. The magenta petals flushed with color, and their crinkly brittleness softened and returned to life as if gasping in a breath of fresh air.

"All by yourself in this place? I can't let you dry up again. Whoever is supposed to be taking care of you will get a talking to," he told it.

He took his room key and ascended the spiraling marble staircase to the second floor. The room numbers were painted in purple on the wooden doors. Ragged carpeting and little paintings of fruit made it look almost like the hall of a dollhouse. He turned the key in the lock of Room Four's door and stepped inside.

It seemed the accursed Flavio hadn't moved in yet. The room was gray and empty without his flamboyant furnishings making a mockery of the Hall's pleasant melancholy. When classes started up, Lovino would bring in an assortment of flowers and ferns to decorate his side, but at least those were of naturally-occurring colors and not the atrocious dyes invented in textile factories.

Lovino unpacked and dressed his bed. Earth-toned sheets and a green set of pillowcases made the place feel instantly homier. Then he took from a pouch on his belt a pair of scissors. They were shaped like garden shears and were meticulously engraved with hundreds of tiny gold grape leaves. He hugged them to his chest, wishing in his heart that there was someone to reassure him. Then he placed them on his nightstand.

Seeing as he wasn't needed anywhere except breakfast the next morning, he pulled the laces on the back of his jacket loose and slipped it off. His red satin tie he loosened next. Then he unlaced his shirt and carefully pushed his wings down and out of the slits. Lovino grimaced at the oily glitter staining the fabric a deep brownish-green. The back of his shirt looked as if it had been dipped in a pond full of algae.

But he would worry about it later. Right now, he was exhausted. Too much stimulation in one day. Too many negative feelings. Too many doubts.

Not enough sleep.

He was aware enough of himself to suddenly notice the severity of his tan lines. The skin of his torso was a patchy two-tone — pale under where work clothes had been and furiously tan where the sun had shone down. All summer he'd practiced his craft outside to keep carnations and tomatoes healthy, just as he had every summer since he was nine years old.

 _I can already tend plants with the passion of an old retired man. What's the point of more work?_ He thought.

Over the cracked marble sink a minute later, he took a cloth and reached back to squeeze the tiniest bit of soapy warm water over his delicate wings. Green glitter streamed down his back and stained the towels on the floor. He fluttered a bit to rid him of the faint slithery feelings his wings registered, and little sparkling droplets rained all around him.

With a curse, he set to work scrubbing the walls with even more towels.

Of course, deep in his mind, Lovino knew why he was here. He knew why he had to suffer through the boring classes and deal with people who saw him only as the persistent weed of the Roma family. He knew he _had_ to become a stronger fairy because his Papà had wanted it for him. And before Feliciano had come along to sing his way into everyone's heart, Lovino wasn't a weed, but a vine.

 _This year, I'd better become the most powerful garden fairy who ever lived, dammit._

* * *

 **~N~**

 **Here is part one of Lovi's little adventure~ Those who have read my main story _Hetafata_ may have an idea of where this is going... but if you're new to Fataverse, welcome, and make sure to follow this story for parts two and three! **

**Published on FanFiction by Syntax-N on September 23, 2018. Reposting is not permitted by the author.**


	2. Due

"I spy, with my little eye, something _green."_

It was a hissing tone, steeped with venom and wrapped in the exhausted urgency of one who doesn't tend to his own limits. Lovino stared, hands in his gloves on his hips, at the timid girl below him. Her own blue eyes were glazed. Obviously, she thought she could swim dazedly through the rest of class and focus on the project tomorrow, once she'd worked through her inner strife and slept for at least eight hours.

But plants couldn't wait until tomorrow. They didn't know the stress of schoolwork or the sickness of sleeplessness or the unceasing pressures of society. They were needy beings, and they couldn't tend themselves. All they could do was sit with their roots in the ground and their stems in the air utterly indifferent to their caretakers' inner strife.

"Your… your eyes are green…" the girl whispered, and it was fortunate he couldn't hear her over the answer to his own question.

 _"_ _Weeds,_ Giulia _!"_ Lovino howled. "Weeds everywhere! They're sucking up all the moisture from the soil!"

"Of course," Giulia said with hushed embarrassment. She brushed a mane of toffee curls behind her ears and pinched a leaf of the creeping weeds between her fingers.

"Of _course!?_ That's all you can say? You don't automatically start weeding when you see weeds? You don't need my approval, you know! Don't you read the textbook and know those are weeds? Don't _any_ of you read the textbook? Marco! Gabriele! Your soil's _swimming_ with weeds! Your poor plant can't breathe, much less get a drink! Do you expect Signora Rosa to weed your box for you after you leave?"

"No, we expect _you_ to weed it for us after we leave," Gabriele jeered. "You're the teacher, after all."

"L'uvano," Marco mocked. "L'uvano, son of the music caster."

A low wave of laughter washed around the greenhouse. Lovino's glare intensified. The stardust in his olive eyes flickered dangerously, and his wings twitched with the annoyance of one who had been slighted far too many times. For a moment, it seemed the plants themselves hummed, waiting for his commands.

This, Lovino discovered, was the trial of second year: the mockery of his competence. All the first month of this Manual Gardening course he'd been subject to derision. It had started with Signora Rosa declaring him her assistant and the greenhouse's supervisor when she wasn't present. Then he'd been seen tending to the wild grape vines springing up around the castle and was dubbed L'uvano. And now that he was master of the greenhouse by sheer competence, (or bossiness,) his peers found far too many ways to foist their distaste upon him.

While they completely _ignored_ the ailing plants.

"We only have an hour. Pull on your gloves and start weeding," he growled.

"But look, L'uvano, it's a creeper paradise! You can't wait to get your hands on it!" Marco swooned with a wild gesture toward his and Gabriele's choking tomato plant. The poor thing was drooping, and its sole fruit was misshapen and yellow.

"Do you want to be a garden fairy or not? If you're not passionate now, you won't be when you're trying to grow fruit people will actually eat!"

"You're not even passionate, L'uvano. You curse every time you have to sit inside instead of playing with your leafy children."

"Just think about that," Gabriele grinned. "He thinks people aspire to be _gardeners._ He thinks being a gardener is _special._ Poor L'uvano. Your family must have really spoiled you out of pity to make up for your ugly voice, and now you think you're the savior of all plant-kind. I hate to break it to you, but anyone can be good with plants."

"And most don't _talk_ to them," Marco added.

Lovino's fingertips sparked. He was about to lunge forward, but Giulia quickly caught his wrist. He turned back and leered at her. She stuttered, "L-let's just focus on our own plant. We need to weed the box."

"They need to weed theirs, too! I'm sick of them neglecting it!" He barked.

"But you always do such a better job than them when you weed it, anyway! You care, and they don't! Just… don't get into a fight over this. We can always tell Signora Rosa."

He jerked, but she held him firmly, her face pinking a bit in the tinted light of the greenhouse. With a huff, Lovino turned back to his own garden box. If this was to be another day of doing everyone else's work, he may as well begin with his own. He took off his gloves and kneaded the cool, damp soil. One by one, the weeds and creepers were ripped from beleaguered earth and deposited into a bucket beneath the box.

A fight would get him in trouble, he assured himself. He'd only be sent to Barbalosa and her ribbon-y, perfume-y office again. He had to remember where he stood on terms with Straffino's authorities.

It would not be good to fight, he thought when a mudball splattered on the back of his neck. Stunting these plants' growth would spoil the fruit, he thought when the jeering continued. It was a manual course, he thought when the two bullies mimicked his tenderness with the leaves and flowers.

And for once, in the fourth week of school, Lovino did _not_ end up lashing out against his assailants, even verbally, when class ended. He merely gave a venomous smile to the two boys, and in a crude gesture, wiped the dirt from his face with hands that were twice as dirty. His wings twitched with bottled up rage before he stomped over to the bullies' garden box and ripped a handful of creepers from the soil.

"All of this every day. Cleaning up their mess and tending their plants because they want to mock me, and they think it's not _special_ to be a garden fairy. Not _special_ to be the one doing all the work and putting my heart into it. It's not like I'm going to leave their boxes full of weeds to spite them. These poor tomatoes don't deserve it."

"Don't let them get to you, Lovi," Giulia said as she took her own gloves off.

"I don't know what world you're living in where you can just ignore all the incompetence and idiocy, but here it's as clear as day," he retorted.

She frowned and went over to help him with the extra weeding. "Is it because of, you know, your family?"

"What about them?"

"Because of who they are—"

"Speak up."

"You're a natural garden fairy, and your father—"

"My bungled inheritance."

Giulia looked up at Lovino's stone-cold expression. His eyes darted around from weed to weed with quicksilver precision, and his hands could only follow, snapping stems and ripping roots. He was a master of his craft without even using magic. The passion he carried within was pure and obvious in his practice. Years he'd spent learning everything there was to know about gardening and botany. And now, Lovino stood angered by a few teasing fools!

"What are you trying to ask? Am I angry that I can't sing grapes into wine? It's not a sensitive question. I've been asked maybe fifty times already by the first-years. They follow me around like flies, whispering about how I look nothing like my famous grandfather. My hair is too dark, my wings are the color of boiled grape leaves, and my uniform is always stained with soil."

"So it does bother you."

"It never bothers me," he countered. "I was born with my own impressive talent. I'm a garden fairy, not a musician."

He said it mechanically, as if he'd tried to assure himself of its genuineness before.

"Do you think you're special?" Giulia asked.

"What did I just tell you, eh? I'm the only one who can save this greenhouse. Only someone special would find himself with that kind of task."

"But do you think your power is special? Your talent with the plants. Do you think you stand out, or are you bothered when you're teased? Tell me, Lovi. No one else is here, and as your friend, I want to know how you really feel."

"You can't appeal to Barbalosa about me. She only sees me as a troublemaker."

"You're not the one causing trouble this time. Just tell me how you feel, Lovi."

Lovino pondered her words as he worked to heal the ailing tomato plant. He knew he'd be scolded, but he couldn't stand to see such a sad plant among the healthy specimens of the greenhouse. He gently touched the stem, and with a little spell of love and care, the plant stood up straight and proud. Its leaves softened and flushed with chlorophyll, and the fruit swelled and rounded into a juicy red tomato. He then studied his handiwork, plucking the tomato off and making a plan to eat it with his lunch.

Was his talent special? Of course, _he_ was special in every way. He was powerful and competent. Plants obeyed his commands and drank from his spells to grow strong and beautiful. He'd grown ripe tomatoes and gorgeous carnations and the juiciest, most flavorful grapes. Even before he could understand his gift, his father had given him a pair of scissors to celebrate his incredible abilities. Lovino was proud of his magic, and he was proud of himself.

Fiercely so.

But he could understand why he was teased. It wasn't rare to be gifted in botanical magic. Everyone in the greenhouse moments before had had _some_ level of talent, (besides maybe a few incompetent, hair-raising, heart-tearing _bastards.)_

He could remember all his aunts and uncles and cousins coming to visit the villa in the summertime. They would greet him and kiss him on the cheeks before showering their praises upon adorable little Feliciano and his pre-dinner music. All anyone wanted to know was if Feliciano would sing another aria or play another galliard on his lute. Gigi and Tina's second son was _intriguing! Spectacular! Extraordinary!_ He could sway emotions with a single note and manipulate the fabric of nature with a chord! He was a miniature of his father and a nostalgic portrait of his grandfather, the all-powerful Roma!

Meanwhile, the eldest son hid in the vineyards and made the window boxes look nice. Any fairy with a lick of talent could do as such.

No one would see Lovino's power like he did.

"Lovi…"

"Yes, fine. I'll admit that having the green touch isn't the same as having a magic voice that can make people cry tears of joy."

"Does your family make you feel that way?"

"Yes, of course they do! Stupid Feliciano—" He stopped himself. No one at Straffino knew Feliciano existed. Not students, anyway. The teachers knew a little about the Roma family, and there were always rumors, but the name "Feliciano" had never been spoken on campus. The description of a golden-winged redhead with a voice like vaporous jewels humming with the gossamer frequencies of the highest heaven had never been uttered.

"So there's a Feliciano who bothers you. Who is he?"

"Eh, he's just… just an annoying family member."

"Why don't you like him?"

Lovino sighed, finally looking Giulia in the eyes and causing her to stare back. If she was any other girl, he'd return her obvious flirting without a second thought. But Giulia's infatuation went beyond admiring his green eyes and skilled hands. She'd been asking questions like this since meeting him in History at the beginning of his first year, and her wiles of "friendship" too often bordered on straight-up nosiness.

Still, Lovino never admitted this to her. Instead, he blocked her questioning out as he would with any nosy gawker. He was the perpetually-scowling cynic, and she the romantic with a quest to burrow into his sour semblance and discover the troubled young man beneath.

He didn't reply to her question, instead mulling over the notion that plants could be so much easier to understand than girls.

* * *

The next morning, when Lovino was hungry and sleepy and wanted to curse everything into the ground, (until he realized cursing things into the ground would poison the plants,) he was sitting at a table in the floating library and fighting the urge to pass the time by sprouting the seeds in his pocket.

On either side of him were the only ones he'd even consider calling his friends. These were Giulia, who was most likely daydreaming about catching him in a hug unawares, and his roommate Gherardo, who proved to be an even bigger pain, as he slept in the same room.

The flamboyant Flavio was generous enough to transfer to an art school in Amotoile, leaving Lovino to dwell with the foolish Gherardo. The prick always sat with a poor fabrication of a countenance. Sometimes he wore the guise of one conceited in his wealth, and sometimes he presented himself with a shallow emulation of Lovino's practiced scowl. To put it simply, Gherardo was an actor — pretending to be a character when he was quite obviously a nobody.

"Which theory do you believe?" Gherardo asked, nudging Lovino with his deep blue, cuff-linked sleeve. Purple wings with pointed tips held themselves trim and polished behind him.

"Theory of what?"

"So you haven't been reading."

"Of course I haven't been reading. I wasn't able to finish my dream this morning thanks to your griping. How am I supposed to focus on reading when I don't know what happened to the princess?"

The arrogant mold of Gherardo's face broke, and Lovino cracked a wry smile. At least his situation provided him with _some_ entertainment.

"I wasn't griping."

"You were whining loudly about something. I think it was your schoolwork. Now let's see. That's the fifth time this week I've heard you gripe about finishing your schoolwork in the morning before class, and today happens to be Friday, which means you can't go one day without losing track of your assignments."

Gherardo's purple wings twitched in annoyance. "What about you cursing and complaining in the evenings about how none of your homework is going to help you become the world's greatest garden fairy, eh?"

The wry little smile stretched into a smirk. "I may complain, but at least I have a work ethic and a goal in mind. I'm the laziest fairy in Allegria and Straffino's biggest troublemaker, and I still put my mind into my schoolwork. Why are you here again? Something about your family's glory?"

This was the part when he knew Giulia wanted to interfere, but such interference would stop him from smiling. How the three of them tolerated each other enough to be friends, (or something of that sort,) he had no idea.

Gherardo grumbled to himself, but Lovino turned his attention faithfully to his textbook and decided he may as well begin to study the next chapter in the history of Allegria. It was now when he saw what his roommate had been referring to: the theories of why the musical gift had begun to thin in the first place.

 _"_ _It is unknown what caused the Gift of Music to slip from winged fairies' grasp. One popular theory, which complements most historical writings from the Isle of Rain around the 12th century, begins with all fair folk living together as one unified nation…"_

"They're trying to make this theory stuff too technical," Lovino whined. "Everyone knows that story. It's a classic fairytale."

Giulia nodded, giving a little smile and pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders. "That's the way magical history is. It's like it combines historical writings with folklore."

"So you don't know who to believe."

"Cynic," Gherardo muttered.

Lovino leaned back in his chair and recited without any expression:

"Three nations of the fair folk all lived together as one nation: the Fae of Light, gifted with music, the Fae of Darkness, gifted with illusions, and the Fae of All Magic, gifted with all the powers of nature, light and dark. The Fae of All Magic's Alderking wanted to ally with humans. The humans wouldn't accept them because they were too magical. The Fae of Darkness protested because they hated progress."

"The Fae of All Magic cursed the Fae of Darkness by filling them up with power. The Fae of All Magic became mundane enough to be accepted, and the Fae of Darkness became the changelings." Gherardo added.

"And some people think that mythical curse is the reason why the Gift of Music began to thin out and everyone's magic got weaker," Lovino scoffed. "But seriously, who would believe that? Who would even believe that's how the hideous changelings came into being? They've been real since light and dark magic separated at the beginning of time. They're made of nothing but pure evil, stealing away children and taking their shapes and lives. No creature that transforms into a child to steal his life was ever once _good,_ and it's even less likely that said creatures once _danced_ with good, winged fairies like us. There was never a 'Fae of Darkness.' Only beautiful fairies and ugly _imps."_

"You didn't have to say that much to prove you don't support the theory," Gherardo said, narrowing his eyes.

"Eh, shut up. The fairytale is from the Isle of Rain, anyway. You know those wingless weirdos even reject the notion that they once danced in the forest wearing nothing but berries and spider silk. If they even reject it, it can't be true."

Giulia huffed. "Then why _did_ the winged fairies of Allegria lose their power of music?"

"Oh, not everyone did," Lovino muttered.

She covered her mouth. "Sorry. I know it's a sensitive topic for you."

"I told you already it's not sensitive. Lovino Vargas _Roma,_ son of Gianfranco _Roma,_ son of _Roma,_ the most powerful music-casting fairy of the modern age, is _not_ a music caster. He's an ordinary garden fairy whose name won't be written into history."

"Lovi!"

 _"_ _Unless,_ he continued, "he proves that his power is strong enough to be recognized. And that's why I do my pointless homework, unlike Gherardo."

Gherardo attempted to scowl like only Lovino could, but his face would forever be without the heavy lines folded into the skin from so many years of disappointment.

Giulia, on the other hand, wasn't ready to give up on her excavation of Lovino's inner strife. "Why won't you be written into history as you are? The teachers may not want to admit it, but you're the most powerful second-year even with your narrow field of interest. You _are_ a freaking Roma! The little first-years follow you around!"

"To ask me if I would sing for them," Lovino droned.

"Then just show them what you can do with plants! Why do you have to push yourself to get stronger? What's with all this 'greatest garden fairy who ever lived' business? There's a reason why you let Gabriele and Marco's words get to you, and the sooner you let your friends help, the sooner we can make you see just how special your botanical talent is."

"I know what you're trying to do," he scoffed. "You can't pull me out of my convictions. I have to get stronger. Everyone's pushing me."

"No one's pushing you, and you _have_ the power your grandfather was known for. It's just concentrated differently. And who is this Feliciano?"

"Oh, you mean his brother?" Gherardo asked ever so casually. His arrogant smirk was back.

"You have a brother, Lovi?"

"No, I do not have a brother!"

"He gets mail from him all the time," the prick continued. "Messy loopy handwriting, tomato sauce stains on the stationery."

"Are you reading my mail!?" Lovino howled. (He was immediately silenced by the librarian literally hovering just above them.)

"I know you read it at night when you think I'm asleep. Right after you say goodnight to the petunia."

"And how would I be saying goodnight to the petunia? The petunia is down in the lobby. The one in our room is a potted bunch of geraniums who would be very offended to hear you call them petunias."

"Well, said _potted geraniums_ rest on top of all your letters from your little brother Feliciano."

Giulia tried to make herself sensible in the midst of her giggling. "Oh, you have a brother, Lovi! That's wonderful! Is he a garden fairy, too? How old is he?"

Lovino's face fell. He glanced around wildly, trying to see if any gawkers were around. Oh, if anyone heard, he'd be ruined! They'd all know that Lovino was not only not the true heir of Roma's power, but also not the true heir of Roma's fortune! His brother was so much more powerful! Powerful enough that he couldn't even control his damn power half the time!

Every time Feliciano sighed in his sleep, Lovino would have visions of sweet tomatoes and feel his heart long for the vineyards of summer! No wonder that human Herr Edelstein must have hated him! The boy _radiated_ magic whenever he did something even remotely musical!

It was too late. By the grimace Lovino made as these thoughts rolled through his head, both of his companions deduced the answer.

"It skipped you," Gherardo put simply. "You got some common plant power, and little Feliciano… Oh, _that's_ why he draws little music notes in the margins of his letters!"

"Your little brother… has the Gift," Giulia whispered. "And that's why you're not proud of being a Roma. Oh, he's going to enroll here eventually, isn't he? And then, then his power will be cultivated just like your father's and your grandfather's… and you must be afraid of that, though you make yourself up to be proud. You feel like it's a race against time, and if you don't make yourself as powerful as you can possibly be—"

"I am _not_ your romance novel protagonist!" Lovino shouted. And with that, he packed up his schoolbag and left the floating library to fly off in whatever direction the wind happened to be blowing, (only losing his balance once or twice.)

* * *

Lovino refrained from speaking to either of them for the rest of the day, and over the next week, for that matter. He was deathly afraid of what rumors may spread about him after the revelation in the library, and he didn't entirely trust Gherardo to keep quiet about Lovino's brother problems.

In the greenhouse, he weeded his box, (and a few other boxes,) without so much as noticing Giulia. This frustrated her to no end, he knew, but he wasn't about to let her pry into his family life when she'd struck such a chord with his inner workings.

 _"_ _Then his power will be cultivated…"_ It was the truth, and Lovino knew it all too well. Feliciano was ecstatic to enroll in Straffino once he came of age, and when he stepped foot on campus, the faculty would forget all about swearing, scowling Lovino and instead put all their efforts into honing Feliciano's power until it was polished, sharp, and stronger than even the third-years' magic.

Lovino _had_ to become a legend. He _had_ to become stronger. That was why he was pushed in his first year! He had potential with his gift, and maybe, just maybe, if he put his back into it—

"No magic in the stands, Signor Vargas Roma."

Lovino jolted. He shivered in his coat before realizing the tomato seeds in his pocket had sprouted and were twisting around his sleeve.

He was tucked just within the corner of the stands watching the Saturday night flying football match between Catolavie Hall and Hadrea House. Fairy dust rained down to the grass below as each team's seven players performed a show of aerial acrobatics to maneuver a gravity-defying ball through the air. Before each of two netted goals on pedestals was a free-flying goalie, and unique to the game were two casters who inhibited each other's teams with quick spellwork bursting out in a spectacle of colors and effects.

Lovino turned to see Headmistress Barbalosa standing beside him, her wings wrapped in a ribboned blanket she most likely crocheted herself. She eyed him critically, and he gave a wry smile as he released his unconscious spell.

"Cheering on your own team?" She asked casually.

"More like scoffing at them. Gherardo is a terrible caster. He doesn't know at all what he's doing. The ground is wet. Why would he try an earth-raising spell when it's just going to crumble into mud? He's let the other team score two goals already! I could've blocked both of them easily."

"Really?"

"Casters are allowed three items on their person. All I'd need are seeds for creepers that I could grow and use as nets. I have it all planned out in my head."

He _did_ have it all planned out in his head. But seeing as the principal element of flying football was _flying,_ and seeing as a crash in the lake had landed Lovino in remedial flying lessons every Sunday at noon, the two of them were not destined to mix this year.

"I noticed you weren't sitting with your friends."

Lovino huffed. Oh, if she started in with the _friendship_ speech again…

"Friends can become one's greatest allies."

"Yeah, and bonding and the strength of love and the magic of positive experiences and all that," he snapped. "I've heard all this before."

"Then why have you been avoiding them?"

Lovino fidgeted in place. She'd sounded stern, which he was used to, but why now? Why, when it was outside school hours and he was trying to enjoy a match without being reminded of his troubles?

Then Barbalosa placed her long blue fingernails on his shoulder. "Envy is a dangerous source of ambition."

He shivered and shrugged to make her take her hand away. She was being all creepy and wise again. What could she even be referring to? Envy? Ambition? Danger? Why couldn't she just scold him for swearing at first-years instead of prying into his personal matters like Giulia?

 _Giulia._

"You were talking to Giulia, weren't you?"

Barbalosa tried her best to give a civil smile. "She didn't tell me everything, but she told me she was worried for you. I'm glad she did. It does make your case a little easier to understand."

"So now I'm a _case."_

"I now understand that your younger brother is a music caster. Is this true?"

He saw the sparkle in her eyes. She was more than interested in learning about a potential protégé — a fairy to take under her wings who could surprise her with his talents and challenge her with his untempered power. She hadn't seen such a fairy since Gigi Roma entered the scene with his ability to make instruments float and accompany him on their own.

"His name is Feliciano, and yes, he's a crazy-powerful music caster," he said almost sadly. There was no going back, and fate was the cruelest of spirits.

"How old is he?"

"Fourteen."

"And what is his disposition?"

"Why do you need to know that? I don't know. He's happy all the time, probably because everyone likes him so much. I can tell _you_ already like him, and you haven't even met him."

"Lovino, I want you to stop denying that you're envious of your brother."

"I'm not envious! I'm happy for him! He deserves all the praise he gets! His voice is beautiful! I just…"

"You what?"

"You don't need to know. Stop being manipulative. You'll find some way to scold me. I'm trying to enjoy myself here."

The headmistress sighed. "I don't want to scold you, Lovino. I really do care about you. I care enough to see that while you may love your brother, you also carry a dark seed of envy within yourself. Giulia told me about the teasing you receive in the greenhouse. You believe that because you were born with a… _common_ talent, you have no hope of being as celebrated as Feliciano is destined to be."

"Destined? _Destined!?_ I _knew_ it! You _want_ him! You were just waiting to hear the rumors are true and that there's another Roma son! Well, good news for you! He's absolutely delighted to be accepted to your school! He writes about it in letters all the time! He'll be even more diligent than I am! You won't have to worry about him being lazy or cursing at first-years or picking fights or falling asleep in books or only being talented in the common field of _garden magic!"_

By this time, quite a few students around him had turned their heads to look. Whisperings floated around the stands, and in the midst of it all, Lovino saw Giulia, who scrunched her brow and bit her lip in worry.

Barbalosa raised her hand, with a feeling of falling and a puff of whitish-blue mist, the two of them were transported to her office.

"Will you talk now, seeing as we are in privacy?"

"No, and thanks for ruining the night. Now I won't be able to see the end of the match." Lovino, seeing no way out of this, plopped himself down in the pink velvet chair and crossed his arms while the headmistress lit a few cinnamon-scented candles with a snap of her fingers.

"Your affliction of the heart is much more serious than any flying football match. It must be dealt with before you act on it in a negative way."

"Look, I was envious of him as a kid, all right? But I've grown past that. I've accepted my place in the world."

"But you don't accept yourself. If you had accepted yourself, you would not be afraid of your friends learning of your brother's existence. You would not care about the rarity of your gift, and you would not be of the mindset that you will always be pushed aside unless you 'prove' yourself. Do not let your envy fuel your ambition, Lovino. Remember that negative emotions, if not balanced with positive ones, can be detrimental to a fairy's magic and wellbeing."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not going over to the dark side," he sneered.

"I certainly hope not! I see potential in you, though you may not see our relationship as such." With a flick of her wrist, Barbalosa warmed two cups of tea to steaming and offered one to him. He scrunched his nose, but took it anyway.

"I see potential in myself as well," Lovino said, stirring his tea.

"Do you?"

"Yes, but no one else will. You'll forget about me when you meet Feliciano."

"You are envious."

"Maybe I am, but no one said competition is a bad thing."

 _"_ _I_ am telling you that if you let your envy rule how you think and feel, you'll find yourself quite unsatisfied when you _do_ perform a feat to be proud of."

"So you're not proud of me?"

The argument lasted half an hour, and by the end, the headmistress had made no progress in convincing Lovino of the danger his mindset imposed. With a sterner tone than she would have liked, she dismissed him, and he made the chilly flight back to Catolavie Hall.

He said goodnight to the petunia, ascended the stairs, and entered his room. Gherardo had not yet returned, which meant the match wasn't yet over, and Lovino had some time to himself. He flopped down on his bed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I've done it this time," he told himself. "Now everyone's going to be asking me questions about who Feliciano is and why I shouted at Barbalosa. Giulia will probably have something fresh for me tomorrow about why I'm not telling her anything. I'm not even her boyfriend, and she makes everything so dramatic."

Sighing, he went through his nightly routine of washing his wings and snuggling into his green pajamas. It was then when he noticed an envelope resting on his pillow. Lovino recognized the handwriting immediately. Another letter from Feliciano.

"Might as well see what he wants," he muttered as he broke the wax seal imprinted with a laurel branch.

 _Dear Lovi,_

 _I hope everything is going well for you at school! Did you pass your big potionery exam? What did you have to make? Is it true that you have to drink the potion yourself? How are your friends? Are you playing flying football? How is the pasta there? Are you washing your wings every night?_

 _I don't even know why I'm asking so many questions. The truth is, it's time for me to go back to Herr Edelstein's house for my tutoring, and because it's on the way, I've decided to take a few days and visit you at Straffino! I've just been dying to see the campus! Maybe you can show me that place where Grandpa Roma said he first kissed Nonna! And you have to show me all the best study spaces! I want to meet the professors, too!_

 _I'll be there very soon! Maybe even as soon as you get this letter! If I'm not, then I sent along something to remind you of home. It's a packet of grape seeds from the vineyard. Do what you like with them. I'll have more with me when I come!_

 _Love,_

 _Feliciano_

"He's… coming," Lovino whispered. "He's coming here to meet the professors and see the campus."

Without a second thought, he pulled himself up from the bed, opened the window, and screamed as loud as he could, howling his obscenities out into the night air like a wounded wolf. His wings flicked up and fluttered, knocking books off the side table and whipping against the bedposts until they pulsed with faint pain.

 _CRASH._

Lovino returned to earth and looked tearfully at the upset pot of geraniums spilling soil over the floor. He kneeled down, scooping up the shards of ceramic and placing them back on the side table. Clods of dirt stained all of Feliciano's previous letters and spattered his pair of scissors.

To distract him for a moment, he fished out his basic spellbook and performed a minor spell to seal the ceramic back together, then stroked the petals, apologizing profusely for his carelessness. It was then when he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Lovino clapped his hands, and the giant firefly sitting in the lamp above his bed flickered off its rear and flew out the window for the night.

Lovino hunched under his blankets when Gherardo walked in and tossed his flying cleats under his bed. With the way he was sniveling, Lovino could only assume he'd lost his team the match and tried to argue with them about it. This, however, couldn't distract Lovino from his own current pain. The thoughts thundered through his brain like wild horses.

 _Feliciano is coming. Everyone will meet him. The school will only want my brother's power. All my hard work will be for nothing. There isn't enough time to become a legend. No one thinks a garden fairy should feel as much pride in his abilities as I do._

But suddenly, and very annoyingly, another voice decided to enter his mind. It was high-pitched and vain, and Lovino felt embarrassed to know exactly who owned it.

 _"_ _Your power is amazing!"_

* * *

 **~N~**

 **I tried to fill this segment of the story will all the _Harry Potter_ and _Winx Club_ vibes I could! "Grape Leaves" will be concluded in Part 3!**

 **Gherardo is Genoa, and L'uvano is a pun on l'uva, which is Italian for "the grape."**

 **Published on FanFiction . net December 27th, 2018 by Syntax-N. Reposters will be cursed.**


	3. Tre

Lovino had been angry that day.

The age of nine found him angry for a myriad of reasons. He was angry that his grandfather had passed away. He was angry that his papà was turned to stone when he was barely old enough to remember him. He was angry that he had volunteered to become an apprentice gardener in the neighboring country of Piamenta. He was angry that the sun of Piamenta was relentless, and his wings were burning up. And, as was to be a theme in his life, he was angry that his botanical talent could never measure up to the glory of his brother's.

He was hunched among the beds of carnations, his knees stained with dirt and his muscles aching from the peculiar strain of spellcasting on his body. He fluttered his wings to cool them, but they still pulsed faintly from the heat of the summer sun.

Privately, he would admit the garden of Casa de Hernández was the second most beautiful place Lovino had ever seen, only after the villa's vineyards. A series of dirt-and-gravel pathways led through a maze of leafy tomato plants, boxes and boxes of colorful peppers, trellises twisting with wild grapes, and beds of delicate flowers.

From the moment he stepped into the garden, he felt as if the choice to get away from the mess of Allegria for a while was the most wonderful decision he'd ever made. He didn't have to deal with his family doting on the six-year-old heir, and he was gaining the work experience to show them how diligent and useful he could be when he returned!

His optimism had eventually decayed. True, he did love the garden no matter how much work he had to put into it, but the work itself was becoming increasingly difficult. The heat taxed him more and more every day, and the master of the estate had turned out to be of a rather distasteful sort in his mind. (Antonio Hernández Carriedo was a stupid _human.)_

"There you are, little beauties," he said as he gave his current patch of carnations a sprinkling of water. Glistening droplets collected on their pink petals to give them a dreamlike appearance in the mirage of the sweltering heat. "Fortune is good to flowers, but not to the one who tends them."

It was remarks like these which stirred Lovino's darker thoughts. He had already been angry in the morning, and now that he was alone, he could truly begin to vent his frustrations to the beings who wouldn't form opinions. Lovino stood up and eyed the flowers critically. Each one now faced the infernal sun with its petals in full bloom. The crinkly dead leaves had been cleared away, and all weeds had been eradicated.

Then, as proudly and as uptight as a sunburned, nine-year-old fairy could, he turned and tromped down to the rows of tomatoes to begin the task of healing their droopiness.

"I'd like to see Feliciano try making tomatoes grow perfectly," he said as he touched a yellow flower and connected with its life force. It blossomed and began to fade in favor of a fresh new fruit. "It doesn't matter anyway. He could make an attempt, and everyone would swoon over his pretty voice. They'd praise him for branching out and using his talent for tasks other than making people happy and boiling hot water.

"And to me, they'd say, 'Go find a place of your own, little garden fairy. You didn't inherit much anyway. A few gold rings and some wine you can't even drink until you're older. You might as well cast off your papà's name and just be Lovino Vargas.'"

He cupped the new tomato in his hands, huffing from the heat and the exhaustion of magic. He may have been talented, but summoning so much power could work evils on his young frame. With a passion only Lovino understood, he continued his tirade to the tomatoes.

"What do they know, anyway, eh? What if we were both ordinary garden fairies? Would I still be pushed around? With his stupid smile, probably. He even looks like Papà and Grandpa! I'll show them all when I get back! They'll know why I decided to learn how to work! It's all to become someone they can be proud of!"

"Lovino!"

Now bright red in the face and shaking, Lovino stood to face who had called him. That stupid human Antonio wiped his brow with a cloth before scowling down at his charge. Lovino grimaced back. His master was usually of a saccharine, oblivious disposition — too happy to comprehend the weight of the world around him. His incessant cheerfulness annoyed the little fairy to no end, so a scowl should have been a welcome change.

Except that even seeing Antonio when he was in the middle of his raging trance was enough to fry his nerves.

"What the hell do you want? I'm busy!"

Antonio scrunched his brows over darkened emerald eyes and practically shook with his own breed of anger. "I won't have that kind of language coming out of you, and your work is done for the day. You're coming with me."

"It's not even afternoon! Do you want these tomatoes to grow or not?"

"I can grow tomatoes fine on my own without magic. Now come along."

Lovino refused, which only allowed Antonio to hoick him up and carry him over his shoulder out of the garden and into the cool stonework of the old mansion. Red banners bearing generations of family crests stood out in the darkened halls. Suits of armor and authentic weaponry graced the corners and walls.

"Where are we going? I can walk up to my room! I won't be handled like this, _mundane!_ Stop touching my wings and bring me a snack! Stupid, powerless, magic-gawking human! My papà was turned to stone talking to people like you!"

Antonio did not say a word. He only gripped tighter around Lovino's middle and carried him down a few stone flights of steps to the dark underfloors of the mansion. From there, he crossed to a black iron door and twisted a key in its lock. It swung open to reveal a hidden room, the only contents of which were a polishing table, a few stools and chairs, and what looked to be an enormous antique battle-ax in the midst of being cleaned.

Antonio dumped the young fairy in a cushioned red chair and faced him on an opposing stool. He tossed Lovino an apple from a basket as what he assumed was a peace offering. Lovino immediately bit into it and furrowed his brow in sour spirits.

"What do you want, eh? I was working so hard when you decided to interrupt me. You had better be telling me you're going to have a batch of churros ready for after supper."

"Lovinito, you know I wouldn't carry you all the way down here to tell you about churros."

"Last time you brought me inside it was to tell me about churros."

"That was your snack time, and I didn't want you working in the sun when it was so hot out. You're not a slave."

"Then what is it? You want someone to talk to while working on your hobby?"

"Why do you care so much what other people think of you?"

Lovino tried to think of a retort, but the question had caught him off guard. He puffed his cheeks and wriggled in the chair until his legs hung over one of the arms.

"Do you curse your family like that every day? Are you really only here working with me because you think they don't care for your magical abilities?"

"They don't!"

"I'm not trying to argue whether they do or not. What you you need to tell me is why it matters to you how others feel."

"Why should you care?"

"Lovino, if you want churros, we will make some progress here!"

The little fairy groaned. "No one likes me, okay? I'm a clumsy flier, I can't sing, and the only magic I'm good at is tending plants. Now show me the churros and put me to bed if you're angry. I don't know why you would care about a fairy's problems anyway. Like I said, you're only a stupid _human."_

"I'm not any kind of human."

"So you don't have round ears and too much hair and the biggest feet I've ever seen? You aren't fooling anyone."

Lovino's satisfaction was only short lived, for it was then when Antonio snapped his fingers, and a flash of greenish sparks burst from his fingertips. He instantly popped his thumb in his mouth afterwards, wincing in pain.

The little fairy stiffened at the sight, unable to say a word. That was _magic._ But that was impossible! No human could do magic without the aid of a wand or staff, and Antonio had never given off the vibe of being a dark wizard, (unless his perpetual giddiness was only a front.)

Antonio took out his thumb and showed Lovino a little red burn that flickered green around the edges. Now, there _was_ a reasonable explanation for this, and it made the little fairy's heart quicken and his hands grasp wildly at his side. He whipped his scissors from his belt and pointed them at his master, trembling in fear.

"You can't take me! You wouldn't be very happy, anyway! My brother inherited everything! Take him instead—"

"I hope you don't really wish for your brother to be taken. And those aren't going to work on me. I don't have enough blood to be affected by them."

Lovino cracked his eyes. "What do you mean by blood?"

"I'm a 'phooka.' A half-blood. Half of me is human, and the other half is changeling. Now sit down."

Lovino didn't know whether to laugh or to cringe. The two most despicable beings in the world had a _child?_ In the back of his mind, it was intriguing, but his nerves were still wary of the danger. He kept his scissors pointed as he cautiously crawled back up on the chair.

Antonio turned to work on polishing the ax a bit as he began to tell a story.

"My mother is human. One night, a long time ago, she fell in love with a man she met at a soirée. It was _passion,_ she said, but you're too young to know about that. She told me she spent hours with him taking long walks in the countryside. She loved him just as much as he loved her, and they conspired to marry and move to the capital of Amotoile."

"Amotoile?"

 _"_ _Oui,_ they were both from Amotoile, and I was born there as well. It was my existence that drove the two of them apart. As soon as my mother found out she was going to have me, her lover vanished without even leaving a note, and she wept for weeks. She never found out why he left until I was born. It was hard not to notice the horns poking out of my head when she held me for the first time.

"Right away I was a sickly baby. I didn't even cry when I was born, but I cried when parts of my body started seizing up and deforming. The physicians all thought I was a demon child, but demons can't have children with humans, so my absent father was declared a changeling in human form."

Lovino waved his scissors around. "So where are these horns, eh? You don't have them now."

"Well, just listen. I was born in Amotoile as Anton Carriere — an illegitimate and a half-blood with a number of magical quirks. I could do weird things if I concentrated. Create sparks by snapping my fingers, light candles by flicking my wrist. It was always little magic, and it usually hurt. My human side was always stronger. It fought the magic inside me until I'd find myself sick in bed.

"As I grew older, I stopped having the 'changing fits.' I still have scars in places where I would deform. My left wrist will always be a little weak. Part of it was that my human body was growing bigger and stronger, but I had also learned a bit of _control_ over my so-called 'powers.' I learned that if I really concentrated, I could induce changes in a way that wouldn't scar my body, and that's how I learned to make my horns disappear. Not that I'm an expert shapeshifter like a full changeling. It does hurt to transform. My mother always scolded me for trying it.

"When I was well enough, she wanted to send me to school. Like I fooled you with my 'mundane' appearance, I also fooled the other children. She told me to never tell them my secret, but of course I did, and they didn't even believe me.

"But you see, Lovi, even if I look human, even if the wards don't affect me, and even if I learned to control my tendencies, people see me differently. No one has ever tried to brand me with iron. I've never even thought of stealing people away, and my appetite is normal for a human. But people, _humans,_ see magic first. I couldn't hide forever. I'm not a human, and the moment others realized this, they judged me.

"It was my mother's choice to bring me to this country. She felt I was judged too much. She couldn't stand people calling her child a demon and the son of an imp. She couldn't stand being judged herself for being such a child's mother. She brought both of us here, to my uncle Hernández's house. I was rechristened Antonio, and I had to learn to conceal my Amotoile accent. I've grown up in this place, and now you're here too."

"So then why aren't you ranting? Why do you scold me for being upset, eh?"

"What? You don't see why?"

"I shouldn't be running away from my problems, bla bla bla."

Antonio chuckled. "Oh, no, that's not it at all. You still don't get what I'm trying to teach you. Now, what's a good way to illustrate this so you understand? Hm… I suppose…"

Then, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, the master of the estate examined the room around them and cleared the stools and chairs away. He then hung the ax on the wall, took off his boots and belt, and stood with his back to the table with his hands balled into fists.

He took a deep breath in and squared his shoulders. Lovino furrowed his brow in confusion. Weird posing? Deep breathing? Why couldn't he just get on with his sucky lesson already? Lovino wouldn't care. He was at the stage in his life where fables and morals could no longer be spoon-fed to him.

But he quit his cloudy, cynical thoughts when Antonio gave a sharp cry and clutched the sides of his head. Between his fingers emerged two sharp, bony horns that curved up from his skull. He winced and rubbed them, but their appearance was only the beginning of a much more dramatic change.

Pulsations came over his arms, and he tried to keep his breathing steady as defined muscles bulged and swelled under tightening skin. Rapidly, his whole form appeared to expand. His chest strained against his shirt, firm muscle bubbling up and filling in the fabric until the seams began to split. His neck was thickening, and his shoulders were broadening. Sickening _cracks_ split the room as his spine and legs tugged and strained his height.

His hands quivered as they began to mutate. The thumbs lengthened, and four fingers popped and creaked as they fused into two. His nails darkened and toughened, and as his hands grew, they swelled into dark ridges not unlike the digits of a hoof. Much the same was happening with his feet. His toes had fused and grown into two full cloven hooves, his ankles popping and stretching and his knees shifting upwards.

His shaggy brown hair had begun to thicken, and he shivered as it crept down over his skin as a shiny, wavy coat of fur. Patches of it sprouted and spread on his chest, back, and stomach. He then gripped the table and yelped when his face began to distort. His nose creaked forward to form a squarish snout that framed a mouth of blocky teeth. Human ears pinched, and an invisible force pulled them out into delicately-furred variations that twitched and tensed from the pain.

Antonio then collapsed onto his hooves and knees, trembling and wheezing. His spine bulged from his skin as the fur finished sprouting and his muscles finished writhing. A brush-like tail had ripped through the back of his trousers and whipped around of its own accord.

Lovino stood in shock. Now he was certain he was dreaming. He could even believe his mentor was a dark wizard, but to transform himself like this? He was a strapping minotaur with everything but a ring in his nose and an ax in his hoof-hands! (Lovino shuddered when he saw the ax still hanging on the wall.)

He then missed when his (former?) master clambered up, coughing violently, and took the same cloth as earlier to wipe a bit of blood from his nose and horns. He snuffled and shifted his balance on his hooves, awkward in the mechanics of his new shape. His horns just poked the ceiling of the little room.

"It's still me," he said, his voice deep and gruff yet still carrying that sunny accent. "And it will probably be me for a while. I forgot just how much my human side hates it when I try transforming. I've never even gone this far before, and I don't think I can go any further. I'll be sore for days, but this is what I wanted to show you. My life has been tainted with this power, but you never see me frowning, do you?"

"Why would you frown!?"

"Eh?"

Lovino's eyes were huge, and he tried to force himself not to smile in awe. "Your power is amazing! Why would you think it's bad!? You just transformed into a — a giant! You could probably bowl down a whole house or send a tree flying!"

Antonio was taken aback, but his bullish nose twitched in wonder. "So you do see it! I knew I could show you! I've always been kicked aside by the world. Take one look at me now and tell me someone out there wouldn't call me a mistake. I don't blame my mother for wanting me to have a better life, but even with what everyone says, I've accepted myself, and I don't let negative opinions get to me. I _know_ that I'm amazing, and others like you do, too!"

"So, what you're saying is… my powers are supposed to be _amazing?_ But they're so ordinary. Any fairy can tend plants. No one can sing like Felice can."

"I don't think just any fairy can do the things you do, Lovi. You're much better off than I ever was. You just need to stop putting yourself down for what others say. Look inside yourself. Maybe you just don't see it yet, but one day you will. Now, em, can you get the door? And you'll have to make churros yourself until it's safe to try changing my hands back."

* * *

The moon rose high over Straffino. Every fairy and creature lay asleep under its mystifying light. Giulia dreamed of wrapping her arms around Lovino's warmth and having the hug returned. Gherardo dreamed he had won the flying football match and was respected truly by the whole of the school. Lovino did not dream. He was sitting on his bed and pondering his memories.

"No, Antonio, my powers are not amazing. You can feel special all you want with your weird, unnatural shapeshifting, but you were wrong. I've got nothing against his talents. He'll always be the beloved Feliciano. Still, you did say I have to accept myself, just like that crone Barbalosa."

A particularly foul curse escaped his lips as his head hit the pillow again, coffee-colored strands of hair gracefully framing his face. (In the past few days, he'd considered getting blond highlights, but he knew Giulia wouldn't like them.)

This was supposed to be his issue. He too often let the opinions of others define how he felt. It was the mantra from people like Giulia and Barbalosa and Antonio that swirled around him until it was suffocating. And what would they do in his situation? He wasn't supernaturally optimistic like Antonio. It wasn't like he could just push all the gloom away and transform into a smiling bull-man. The gloom was incessant. Eternal. Never-ceasing, ever-taunting. The professors' glares, the students' whispers, his friends' intrusions, his bullies' jabs, the whole world and its partiality to power…

It was enough to dull his wings a bit.

And yet the voice of angry little Lovino remained within his emotional convection, pushing itself to the surface whenever his thoughts grew dark. At the worst point in his life, he'd called Antonio, the freakish half-breed, _amazing._ And if someone like him could be amazing, then Lovino, born with true fairy gifts, should feel proud of himself.

"I suppose I'm more mature than I was back then, but I'm also the same. I still want to prove myself to the world. I'm still not completely satisfied. I still think everyone's against me. In some ways, the crone and the freak are right. I can accept my powers because I love them, but I can't accept that I'm a garden fairy. I can't accept myself."

Admitting this sentiment stirred something within. It was cold and dark, and it made his mind start to race. Lovino knew this was fear. Fear that he was wrong. Fear that his envy had not gone as he'd thought. Fear that he could never impress anyone. Fear of accepting limits he didn't even want.

"Your power is _amazing!"_ The voice shrieked.

"Get out," he told it. "You're not real, and tomorrow or the next day, I won't be either. After I graduate, I'll move to the south and make myself a new identity. Lovino… Vino… Vinny… Vin… Vincenzo. Vincenzo Vargas. Gelato-maker and local garden guy. Eh, what a tragedy. I can already feel the mustache coming in…"

But then a funny thing happened to Lovino. He curled up on his side and began to fall into the strange state just before sleep when the mind sees everything a little differently. His imagination suddenly grew much more potent, and in his own mini world of anxious fantasy, he saw before him the angry form of his child self scrunching his fists and narrowing his eyes.

"I _said_ your power is amazing!"

"Shut up and let me sleep."

"But it's amazing!"

"Sure it is. But only to us. Not to anyone else. Fate is against trying to convince them otherwise, and people would just call me envious if I tried. Barbalosa and her speeches _are_ annoying."

The child cocked his head to the side. "Then stop trying to convince them otherwise. Don't prove yourself."

"And move to the south."

"You don't have to move to the south. You don't have to push yourself, and you don't have to give up. All they want you to do is accept yourself for who you are right now. You're so much more powerful than I am! Why not just show them your power as it is? There's no need to prove anything when the world already sees how amazing you are."

"They don't see me as amazing."

"Yes they do."

Lovino groaned and rolled over in bed, waking from the dream he'd accidentally fallen into. He'd pushed his subconscious back into his memories.

But for some reason, he no longer felt so dejected. He tried to imagine it. There was no need to _prove_ he was special, and there was no need to give up what he already had. He simply _was_ special.

"My power is amazing. I'm special. Just as I am."

A vision danced before his eyes. The vineyards at home. The garden in Piamenta. The creepers on the castle walls. The flourishing greenhouse. All this was his doing. He'd worked so hard and improved his craft so much since he'd been young. There was no need to cease improving, but there was no need to toil beyond what was natural.

"So I'm a garden fairy right now."

Lovino pushed himself up and sat on the edge of his bed. Something curiously electric prickled in his skin. He repeated the sentiment, and his lips perked into a tiny smile.

"I'm a garden fairy."

Suddenly inspired, he snatched up the packet of seeds Feliciano had sent him and shoved his scissors into his pouch. He then hurriedly threw on his jacket, (struggling to tie the laces as loosely as possible,) and rushed down the darkened staircase of Catolavie Hall. Maybe he was no one. Maybe he was the weed of the Roma line. But dammit, he had a purpose! And that purpose was helping plants grow big and beautiful the only way he knew how! If Feliciano were to arrive tomorrow or the next day, he would see a beautiful Straffino! A botanical paradise of a campus! And all of this would be from Lovino's wonderful, amazing power, just as it was in the moment!

He touched the petunia in the lobby, beaming. The electric threads of magic twisted and weaved in his blood. His fingertips sparked, and the little flower bloomed and stretched in its pot. Yes, his power was _amazing._ He could show up any aria or galliard with a bloom! He was Roma's first grandson!

Lovino burst through the doors and launched himself off the floating foundation. For a few seconds, he tumbled into the night, wind rushing past his ears, and then, with a clumsy bit of aerial acrobatics he really hoped no one saw, he opened his wings and flapped frantically to defy gravity before he became a part of the soil he loved.

The sun would come soon. He could feel the anticipation beneath his feet as he touched down on the dewy grass. Frost had yet to come to Straffino, and with a few spells of warmth, the soil would remain soft and comfortable for the leafy decorations he would soon be creating.

He started at the castle wall. The twisting creepers and wild vines shifted their leaves in the early morning breeze. Lovino steadied his breath and placed his hands over bundles of clinging vines. Their skin was rough and prickly, and little fibrous claws dug into the ancient stone.

He reached within and summoned his power. His heart quickened, and the warm, wonderful pulsing feeling pooled in his chest. It trickled and spread through his flesh and bone until his whole form was humming. Lovino smiled when his wings twitched and static danced on the tips of his ears. A few green sparks burst from his fingertips. He harnessed the pulsing and tugged it into the shape of a spell, letting his warm energy seep into the leaves and vines.

The vines had already responded. They rippled beneath his hands as they began to bulge and curl even tighter. A greenish glow was emanating from where he touched the wall. It traveled along the tangled mess, stretching it and flushing it with life. The leaves broadened, and the little claws dug even further into the stone. In his mind's eye, Lovino could see the whole structure growing and flourishing. He felt the life force strengthen and pulse. His own magic swelled and flared.

Wonderful.

Beautiful.

Special.

Incredible.

He looked up to see the whole castle wall was squirming with vines weaving and coiling around each other. Lovino grinned. This was only the beginning. He felt his power shift and surge through him. His chest grew hot. His hands were sparkling.

"Most powerful second-year, you say, Giulia? I think I can see it, now. If Felice wants to take my place as Straffino's Roma, he'll have to accept that a master was here first."

Lovino balled his hands into fists. He lifted his wings and shot up and up to survey the top of the castle. The vines were continuing to grow even without his influence. It was as if they could still sense him commanding them to fill up the space. They wreathed around the towers and snaked across the stone to the front of the castle. Little pink flowers began to bloom in and amidst the creeping greenery. Thickening bundles of leaves gave life to the dead stone.

He dove over the castle, (this time nearly face-planting in the garden beds,) and spread the seeds Feliciano had sent. Lovino sent them a sharp look. His eyes flashed a scintillating green in the darkness. Instantly, the seeds sprouted. Little green vines twisted and thickened into trunks. Vines knitted with each other, and tiny grapes began to swell under the leaves.

"I didn't even touch them," he breathed. He stepped back, watching the plants continue to react to his spell. "I've never been able to grow something without touching it before."

Curious, he lifted a hand and pointed at the vines, concentrating. They writhed and twisted in his direction. Vines burst out of the soil and crawled toward his feet. They wrapped around his ankles and pulled him to the ground.

"No," he told them. He curled his fingers, and the vines loosened. Lovino shook them off his boots, amazed. He stood up and examined his hands. His skin was burning green beneath a wild flame of shimmering power. Was this what Barbalosa always went on about? Power could be influenced by emotions? And what did that mean he was feeling? Envy? Confidence? Pride? Whatever he was feeling, it was potent.

"My magic. It's… _evolving,"_ he whispered. Then he beamed, adoring every second that the searing fields of energy bent around and through him. His wings flashed and glittered, feeling larger and lighter on his back. He could feel the flora awaiting his commands. It thrummed with the elemental frequencies of life and magic, together as one.

With the grapes now swollen to perfection, he fled the garden beds and bounded to the greenhouse. His bootprints sprung up with flowers and soft blankets of grass. The trees strained and bent toward his magical gravity. Their roots ripped from the ground and stirred up fresh soil that bloomed with shoots and tiny blossoms.

Lovino reached the greenhouse, huffing now. He thrust his hands forward and fluttered his wings in excitement. "Grow!" He commanded, and a scorching arc of green light burst from his palms. The tomatoes ripened. Their plants stood up tall and proud in the boxes. Crinkly, wilted leaves softened and spread out. New stalks poked through the soil and spiraled up into the air as if they were dancing to nature's lilting call. Outside, vines had sprung up from the ground and wound up over the greenhouse walls.

He turned around. The grape vines were ubiquitous. They had followed him, creeping over every wall and surface he'd passed by. They crawled through the grass and over the walkways. They climbed each other to reach floating buildings and manifest into thatched walls of green. Grapes adorned them like precious gems dripping and glimmering with dew.

The sun had begun to rise over Straffino. In its warmth and light, the plants found even more strength. Another wave of energy ripped through Lovino's body and left him gasping for air. His head began to pulse, and his muscles grew a bit achy. He strained to control the energy he conjured, but his spells were feeding on it faster than he could conjure it. He felt it rise within him and then sink down through his feet into the ground. The soil rose up around his boots, pulling them downward.

Lovino lifted his wings. He kicked off and rose into the air, the rush of illimitable force carrying him upwards. Glittering fairy dust spilled and rained down on the vines that had converged at his position. They began to thicken and grow upwards as one great stalk that followed him into the sky.

"You want more, eh?" He heaved. "I suppose the whole campus isn't covered yet. It's not perfect yet."

Lovino lay his head back and basked in the shower of sparks swirling erratically around him. His wings beat faster and stronger. In one graceful movement, he closed his eyes and cupped his hands around his heart. The sparks raced hotter and brighter. He willed them to converge in the center where his fingers were curled. They swirled inward, concentrating, condensing.

Then he released. An explosion of energy forced him backwards in the air, and he fought to maintain his balance and his breathing. His spell rolled over every leaf on campus as a massive wave. The vines thickened and stretched to enormous size. The grass pulled out of the ground and pointed in broadening blades at its keeper.

Feelings of pride surfaced, but the shimmering flames of power were blurring Lovino's vision, and he didn't see that the whole of Straffino was becoming botanically infested in a lopsided, random fashion. His plans for an aesthetic of greenery had long gone awry. The plants snaking around and flourishing lacked all order and only grew wilder and more tangled. They flooded the garden beds. They overflowed from the rooftops. The castle walls sagged with creepers until they began to bulge and grow horizontally. New walls made entirely of plants grew from the dead stonework.

And soon, they were no longer confined to the buildings' exteriors…

Lovino threw out his arms and let his wings flicker in the light. He gasped and coughed. "You see what I can do? I am _amazing!_ Not just any ordinary garden fairy can do this! Except… maybe it should stop now."

He tried to release the spells, but a horde of vines had reached him and wrapped around his arms and legs, restricting his movements. They sucked energy from his skin like magic leeches. His stomach lurched. His body was draining and wilting like a flower cut from its stem.

He heaved in lungfuls of air, but the weeds beneath him were snaking under his jacket and shirt and squeezing around his chest.

"Weeds!" He cried. He tore at them, but every leaf he touched broadened and burgeoned, sucking away his power and leaving him with only a painful throbbing in his chest that wouldn't stop no matter how hard he tried to release it. Sweat and dirt caked his face. His eyes watered. Slowly, a sphere of plant life was squirming around him, constricting around every twitching muscle. He whined as it pulled his delicate wings. A prickling sensation forced its way into his arms. Thorns were growing to hold him in place.

"Stop! Stop it! Stop growing! Release! Nnnggh!"

Something cold and damp pressed itself firmly into his one free hand. A freezing cold energy trickled up his arm and into his chest. With a searing jolt, he felt his magic tear away from the surface and sink back down to his center of power. He trembled, straining to breathe in the cocoon of grape leaves around him.

"Signor Vargas Roma."

He looked with an exhausted fury up at Barbalosa fluttering before him. Giulia hovered just behind. The girl looked to be choking back tears. She squeezed the headmistress's hand and eyed him with utmost fear for his safety.

"I accepted myself," he heaved, trying not to let the pain in his chest show on his face. "You see? I didn't have to prove anything. I'm just this good with plants."

Down below, the greenhouse exploded with weeds.

* * *

Allegrian carriages did not have seats with backs. Instead, they were furnished with a cushy, velveted bench on each side with headrests and smallish compartments behind each for the occupants' wings to be folded down and comfortably situated into. The body of the carriages were spherical, small yet strong to handle their delicate riders. A single fully-grown pony was usually all it took to pull an Allegrian carriage, with the assumption that its occupants were lightly-built fairies.

Lovino slumped morosely in a carriage, his head barely supported by the headrest. A pillow lay across his lap, and he stroked it disdainfully. His wings twitched behind him. Out the window lay the wild landscape of Straffino — a landscape and not a campus. Where the castle once stood was an enormous green hill that still roiled with new leaves every so often.

Most of the residence halls had been evacuated due to the vines snaking over the interior walls and filling in every room and hallway. (Catolavie Hall, in particular, was the worst off. Its internal plumbing had been completely dismantled by a single petunia, and now miniature waterfalls were cascading over the side of the stone foundation.)

A variety of students had been admitted to the infirmary. Most had only small cuts and bruises from trying to claw through the vines that had trapped them in their dorm rooms. Others had more severe injuries, ranging from creepers' constricting marks to a case of ubiquitiums in the inner ear. (Ubiquitiums were a foul genus of magical buttercup that could plant their spores anywhere and grow everywhere, including from skin and hair.)

The door to the carriage opened, and in climbed Feliciano. He sat opposite his brother, bearing a few small wooden boxes that he tucked away on the floor of the compartment behind him.

"You're going to kill me jostling the carriage like that," Lovino groaned. Barbalosa had been able to seal his magic for the time being, but it still bubbled up and burned in his muscles. His hands wouldn't stop shaking, and his skin retained an eerie, greenish tint that condensed into little emerald spots in places.

Feliciano didn't say anything for a while. He simply fiddled with his hands and kicked his feet. Then he opened his mouth, hesitated, and came right out with it:

"You've been expelled."

Lovino gasped wetly. He turned his eyes on his little brother, the scourge of his recognition. Feliciano only sat innocently with that signature concerned squint boring into him. The golden laurel branch in his hair still glinted as brightly as ever. Lovino tensed, but his body ached, and he groaned again.

"I shouldn't be surprised. All that power, and they don't want any of it. They don't like me. They don't want me. All they needed was a reason to get rid of me."

"You trapped your classmates in their rooms. You put them all in danger."

"How was I supposed to know the plants got inside the buildings!? I felt _alive_ for the first time in my life. I felt like I could do anything. My power exploded. It was like there was a star inside my chest."

Feliciano nodded. "A power surge. The headmistress was really nice. She explained it to me. She said you believed in yourself and your power. You just let it grow too much, and with some negative emotions, and it got out of hand. Looks like we both need to learn some control!"

"I don't need to learn control."

"But your magic _grew!_ The headmistress said she'd never seen such a big surge in a student overnight! She said you're a really powerful fairy! No one's been able to impress her like you since, well, since Papà!"

"Then why did I get expelled, eh? If she wants my power, then she should have kept it. I know she hates me. 'Accept yourself,' she says. So I do accept myself. I accept myself and soar. And then, when she sees what I can do, she takes all the opportunities away. _Expelled._ Done. That's it. Straffino will never see me again. I thought… I thought that when this happened, it would feel better."

"Why did you think this would happen?"

"It was going to happen anyway when _you_ got here. Sure, I could tell myself not to let the world get to me like Antonio told me to do, but what's the use when it means I'm the only one who can see my worth? All this wonderful talent, and no one wants it because they want _you._ "

Feliciano was speechless. Then he reached out and stroked Lovino's hand.

"Are you saying you… Lovi… are you envious of me?"

He shook trying not to collapse into a fit of tears. "N-no I'm not. You're my brother. I'm supposed to love you."

"But you're envious of the attention I get because of my gift. I understand. Don't think I don't know. I've grown up with you, and I know you like no one else would. I know you love me, but I also know you can't stand it when people won't acknowledge your talents over mine."

"Then you know I love being a garden fairy."

"Yes, of course! You're never happier than when you get to spend your days in the vineyards at home. And I know you love doing, em, whatever it is you tried to do to the school." He cringed when he looked through the window and saw the members of the royal Magical Damage Control Force still chopping through the endless forest of vines.

"I just wanted to show them how great I am. I didn't think it would go this far. Now they're just killing everything. They're killing all my vines. I can feel them dying!"

Feliciano just shook his head. "Your own vines tried to kill you first. You didn't think, Lovi! If the headmistress hadn't found you, you could've died! A fairy can't survive five minutes with his magic totally drained! Yes, you have to know your own power, but you also have to know your own limits!"

"I didn't know! It was surging! It was growing! It felt limitless!"

"You didn't think."

"I didn't want this to happen! But I didn't want them to turn me away, either. Now they'll just forget me. This is all I'll be known for, at least until _you_ study here. Music caster. Gift of Light. Heir of Allegria's legacy."

Feliciano bit his lip. He glanced outside, then back to his miserable brother. The dying vines and the dejected fairy.

Wilted grape leaves.

"Then I won't study here."

"Don't give me that. You're going to Straffino, and you're going to become the most powerful fairy of our time. You'll have sparklier wings than Grandpa Roma. They'll erect a statue of you right there where they're cutting down that olive tree."

"I'm not going to study at this school if it's going to make you feel bad about yourself. Let's let this day be the last Straffino remembers of the Roma family, eh?"

"Shut up. Barbalosa wants to train you personally. She told you that, didn't she?"

"Well, yeah, she kind of told me she saw a huge, hidden potential in me, but that doesn't have to mean anything."

"You have a _destiny,_ Felice."

"How do you know? Maybe I do have a rare and powerful gift. Maybe I do have a huge, hidden potential. But what am I the best at? Making people happy. I think I should be able to make my own brother happy, so I'm going to declare it right here, right now. I won't be attending Straffino or training under Barbalosa."

"Everyone in the family wants you to."

"You're part of the family. It'll be a secret, okay? I'll just say I'm tired of all the studying under Herr Edelstein. I've got my whole life ahead of me, and so do you. I don't have to fulfill some destiny at sixteen. You don't have to fulfill your destiny here."

"I don't have a destiny. I've got the ugly sister, _fate."_

But Feliciano ignored this. He began to sing softly. His voice was sweeter than golden mist and more delicate than threads of silken glass. It washed over Lovino, loosening and massaging his cramping muscles. It worked to dissolve the panicked pain in his heart and shed some light through the eternal gloom.

Lovino looked out the window of the carriage. He imagined Barbalosa, Giulia, Gherardo, the bullies and the first-years, the students with cuts and the students with ubiquitiums growing out of their ears. He imagined how they all must hate him or feel sorry for him or laugh at his mistakes.

But he didn't know what they thought. All he knew was what he felt in the moment. And right now, he knew at least one other person thought he was the most amazing fairy in the world. He could feel the positive emotions his brother emanated.

His little brother… looked up to him…

Feliciano sang and sang until the carriage began to move and carried the green hills of Straffino away into the distance. Lovino propped his head back and sighed, taking in every effervescent note that popped on his forehead.

"Dammit. Every time. It's so beautiful."

* * *

 **~N~**

 **The End. ^^** **Lovino appears again as a minor character in _Hetafata._**

 **Published on FanFiction . Net by Syntax-N January 23rd, 2019. Reposters will be cursed.**


End file.
